North49th

Cold day at the lake. Shot with @Palm Pre 2

Went to the lake (little one called Lake Ontario).  Darn cold but beautifully sunny.

These are shot with the Palm Pre 2.

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Filed under  //   Palm Pre 2   pictures  

And a few more pictures from the weekend

Wintery cold!

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Filed under  //   pictures  

A few pictures I was able to snap yesterday

I took my lunch break right near an area frequented by fowl beings! (couldn't resist, sorry).

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Filed under  //   pictures  

Favourite sunset shots

Getting used to my new camera, a Canon Powershot SX30is.  Here are some sunset shots from the other day.

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Filed under  //   pictures  

Sunset shot with Palm Pre 2

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Nice clear sky tonight.  Took this shot just as the sun set.

Filed under  //   Palm Pre 2   pictures  

Best fake slogan from a movie

This is from 'Intolerable Cruelty' with Clooney and Zeta Jones.  Its the slogan from a group of divorce lawyers with the acronym N.O.M.A.N.

 

"...let N.O.M.A.N. put asunder"

 

Made me howl. :D

Filed under  //   silliness  

Comparing Palm Pre 2 camera flash with LG Quantum

Last night I was at a meetup that was in a dimly lit bar and thought I would test a couple phone cameras out.  The lighting is low and made more difficult by the bright screen behind the speakers.  Both results are horrible but there is a significant difference between them.  Both were taken with the flash

The first shot is from the Palm Pre 2 and the second with the LG Quantum.  Obviously, the Quantum was horrible.  While the Pre 2 didn't do really well it's certainly a valiant effort considering the conditions and distance.


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Filed under  //   pictures  

Net Neutrality is the single largest threat in the Universe!!

I feel very knowledgeable on everything to do with the internet 'cause I use it every day!  Recently I have been reading up on Net Neutrality...well, not really "reading up" per se but noticed a bunch of headlines about it.  So, here's my take on Net Neutrality:

Net Neutrality is all about the propensity of web designers to use the same colours for every design.  Clearly, blue is the poster child for Net Neutrality and should be avoided at all costs!  I know, you thought it's about grey because of the name but take it from me (I'm on the internet a lot...and read the headlines) it's about blue.  Maybe red too.

So, if you are for (or is it against?) Net Neutrality you should be against (or is it for?) the colour blue!

Down with Net Neutrality!!  Or up...

Filed under  //   silliness  

Canadian carriers continue to fleece for data roaming

I'm taking my family to South Carolina for holidays this year and thought I would look at options with my cellular carrier for US Roaming.  I'm with Bell Mobility.  Turns out the options for data...suck!  They aren't "kinda high" or "a bit steep" or even "that could add up", they just downright suck.

Bell would be charging me $6 per MB for data use in the US.  To put that in perspective, each photo from my phone would cost about $2 to upload.  Since I will be on vacation that would kinda add up a bit, wouldn't it.  MobileJaw.com loads up at around 200k, so I could read 5 articles for $6 but a site like PhoneDog.com is just under 1MB, so to go there and then read 1 article it would cost me about $10-$12.  OUCH!!!

Of course, Bell, in there infinite gratuitous nature offer a wonderful deal.  I could pay $10 upfront and only pay $1/MB.  That still means it will cost me $2 to read an article on PhoneDog multiplied out by a number of sites and a week of doing so...ya.  Normally I would use about 230MB in a week on my cell, which would be $240...at best!

Before you defend Bell saying they have to pay charges to whichever carrier I am roaming on give yourself a shake.  Bell would have worked out a deal that is ridiculously low from roaming partners.

BTW, Bell isn't alone here; TELUS and Rogers are just as guilty, with Rogers looking to be the best option.  With Rogers you can prepay $60 and get 75MB ($0.80/MB).

A better option for data is to get an AT&T SIM card and load it up.  The SIM will cost you $25 and then $20 for 100MB but that is still $15 cheaper than the best Canadian carrier option.

The best option is to always find free WiFi but that isn't always the most convenient one.  Carriers need to stop fleecing for roaming.

Filed under  //   Mobile Tech  

Is the @Techcrunch and @Engadget drama for real?

Recently there has been some back and forth between Techcrunch founder Michael Arrington and Engadget Chief Editor, Joshua Topolsky.  It's a wonderful drama with Arrington accusing Engadget of buying ads to increase site traffic (gads!) and trying to derail the acquisition of Techcrunch by the parent company of both sites, AOL.

Business Insider seems to be running a lot of coverage on this school yard fight, trying to call us all out at recess to watch the slap-fest.  While it may be mildly amusing to watch these step brothers duke it out I can't help but wonder if any of this is orchestrated. We really haven't heard anything from AOL and they don't seem to be stepping in to stop the fight.

While this may not be something that was cooked up in an AOL boardroom perhaps it is something they are allowing.  The truth is that this public rivalry is drawing attention to both sites...even if it is in a tabloid kind of way.

Personal opinion; Michael Arrington knows what he is doing and has cooked this up to draw attention to Techcrunch (and himself).  Engadget just has never seemed like the type of site to bother with this kind of bickering, while Arrington is...Arrington.

Filed under  //   Mobile Tech